The Fellowship of the Believers

When I first went into ministry, I was not married, and one of the members invited me to come by her home any night for supper. I didn’t have to call. All I had to do was show up. She made biscuits almost every day, and I learned what red-eye gravy is. After getting married, these church members invited Carolyn and me for Sunday dinner often. Now, when they had a fellowship dinner, they laid the food out on a long cement table that seemed to be a quarter mile long.

According to Acts 2:46, the early disciples met together every day in the temple courts. “They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (v. 47)

Maybe we of the church have forgotten how the early church was formed. Our text says they met daily and broke bread together. When we wonder why we are not growing, maybe we need to return to this passage and decide if we are “breaking bread” together. If we are not, perhaps we’re not eating together often enough. Wonderful fellowship can develop at a meal, and I’m afraid we of the church have forgotten this. How many times do we invite a visitor to our home for a meal? How often do we get together and have a fellowship meal at church?

I wonder if the secret to church growth might be to have more fellowship together. I read about a church in Tennessee that has a hotdog lunch every Sunday. Now, not everyone loves hotdogs, but the fellowship has grown and grown. Let’s grow our fellowships by “breaking bread” together.

Prayer: Father, we want our churches to grow in harmony and love. Help us to have fellowship, and may we come together by “breaking bread” together. Amen.

Acts 2:46 – “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.” 

By the Rev. Tommy Herndon
Images: Spencer Davis & Dan Dealmeida, courtesy of Unsplash